“Give it away, it will not fly, we are tired of a vanity project. I have heard in this committee that politicians are proud to see SAA aeroplanes parked at international airports. Park the things there and wash them! It’s cheaper than to try and fly them.”

As for the idea of SAA and SA Express being merged, Rossouw said: “I’ve never seen two bankrupt companies being merged to make a success.”

Rossouw repeated his call for the government to buy only vehicles made in South Africa and now he has had a post-graduate student run the numbers.

“We’ve shown it will increase domestic employment, it will increase GDP (gross domestic product) by R36.8 billion if the government refrains from buying imported vehicles, it will increase tax collection.”